Writer’s Guild Strike: Boston Rally Report (with audio)
Posted on December 16, 2007 at 11:47 am | No Comments
A snowy Sunday afternoon here in Boston finds me taking a brief detour from my usual music-related ramblings…
Jaime Paglia, Rob Kutner, & Joss Whedon
On Friday afternoon, television scribes and proud Writer’s Guild of America members Jaime Paglia (co-creator of SciFi Channel‘s excellent Eureka), Rob Kutner (from The Daily Show), and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly) came to Boston to lead a strike rally of fans and their fellow WGA faithful. While the attendance was surely lessened by the previous day’s snowstorm, more than 250 supporters filed into the First Parish Church in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, winter boots on many feet and slogan-filled signs in many hands.
A variety of TV shows were name checked on posterboard in thick sharpie, including Pushing Daisies and The Office, but it’s no surprise that most of the crowd was there to bow down at the altar of Joss (even his fellow writers humorously acknowledged the obvious imbalance). There may be no more devoted fiction fans than Whedon fans, and they showed up in force. Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker‘s introduction, while eloquent, garnered its most raucous applause when she admitted her love of Buffy.
Once inside the church, each of the three writers delivered impassioned, wit-filled speeches; Jaime spoke of being inspired by a young intern who, rather than go elsewhere when told they had no work for him due to the strike, has been on the LA picket lines every day. Rob gave us a small taste of what we’re missing with the Daily Show in reruns (Alberto Gonzalez, incomprehensibly named the ABA’s “Lawyer of the Year” last week, took one on the chin). And Joss spoke to us of dragons.
Here’s the audio from each speech, as well as the strike-centric question & answer session that took place before we all hit the streets for an old-school picket march…
01. Introduction (Cambridge Forum Director Pat Suhrcke & Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker)
02. Jaime Paglia (Eureka) speaks
03. Joss Whedon (BtVS, Angel, Firefly) speaks
04. Rob Kutner (The Daily Show) speaks
05. Q&A session
Another attendee shared up video here, and the Cambridge Forum, who hosted the event, will hopefully have their own recording up at their site soon.
I encourage anyone reading this to not just listen closely to what each writer had to say, but to do what you can to show your support when you’re done, even if it’s just by spreading the word. The AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and their associated mogul-run media outlets are conducting a cliched campaign of disinformation. To find out what the strike is truly about, check out this YouTube video, a concise explanation of what’s at stake. And if you’re so inspired, hop on over to the Jobs With Justice site, where voting is taking place for their 2007 Grinch of the Year, an annual ‘award’ for “the national figure who does the most harm to working families”. Vote as you see fit, but note that among the cads up for nomination is AMPTP President J. Nicholas Counter III (man, does his name scream cash-infused pretension or what?).
And lastly, a few related links…
All of my photos from the WGA Boston Rally are here. More photos from other attending supporters are here, here, here. Bostonist wrote up the rally, as did Wicked Local Cambridge. The Cambridge Chronicle filed a video report. The strike march through Harvard Square brought us to the front of the Harvard Lampoon Castle, where local comic/actor/writer/WGA member (and former CBS employee, so he knows how the big guys treat writers, too) Jimmy Tingle rallied the troops with a little harmonica and some impromptu drumming. The Lampoon guys even brought out free donuts for the crowd, a kindness that made me resist asking what the deal is with all the tree killing. Battlestar Galactica writer/creator Ron Moore is blogging about the strike here. And as you’ll discover there, Joss wasn’t wearing a Red Sox cap just to suck up to us locals. For more information on what you can do to support, or at least stay informed about, the WGA Strike, check out the Fans4Writers and United Hollywood sites.
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